Management to reduce power consumption in virtual memory provided by plurality of different types of memory devices

Abstract

Reduction of memory power consumption in virtual memory systems that have a combination of different types of physical memory devices working together in a system's primary memory to achieve performance with optimum reductions in power consumption by storing in the virtual memory in the kernel, topology data for each of the different memory devices used.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for reducing virtual memory power consumption in a virtual memory system wherein physical memory is provided by a plurality of different physical memory devices comprising:
 storing in the virtual memory kernel, topology data for each of said different memory devices including: 
 a memory bank data structure for each of said different devices including a plurality of independently powered memory regions, each memory region having at least one set of ranked power consuming zones ranked according to diminishing power consumption levels; and 
 dynamically reducing the power consumption levels in said regions, under kernel control, to the lowest operable ranked power consumption zone for each region. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein dynamically reducing includes reducing a region to a lower power consumption zone if the region is not referenced for a predetermined period of time. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2 , further including allocating user data wherein fewer regions are referenced, and more regions are not referenced for said predetermined period of time and are reduced to the lowest power consumption zone. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 3 , wherein one memory region has a plurality of sets of power consumption zones of ranked diminishing power consumption levels. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 4  wherein one of said plurality of sets of zones in said one memory region is phase-change memory (PCM) with higher power consumption, and said dynamically reducing includes minimizing referencing of said PCM. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 3  wherein a plurality of memory regions are linked to a region of mirrored memory for enhanced reliability, and further including referencing regions with links to mirrored memory to maintain said enhanced reliability. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , further including a plurality of memory banks, each bank including a plurality of said independently powered memory regions , wherein entire memory banks have all of their regions reduced to the lowest operable ranked power consumption zone for each region. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 2 , further including providing a zonelist, to be used in referencing regions, built as sequences of zones of the same power consumption level from each of said plurality of regions. 
     
     
       9. A virtual memory system for reducing virtual memory power consumption wherein physical memory provided by a plurality of different memory devices comprising:
 a processor; 
 a computer memory holding computer program instructions which when executed by the processor perform the method comprising: 
 storing in the virtual memory kernel, topology data for each of said different memory devices including: 
 a memory bank data structure for each of said different devices including a plurality of independently powered memory regions, each memory region having at least one set of power consuming zones ranked according to diminishing power consumption levels; and 
 dynamically reducing the power consumption levels in said regions, under kernel control, to the lowest operable ranked power consumption zone for each region. 
 
     
     
       10. The virtual memory system of  claim 9 , wherein said dynamically reducing method step includes reducing a region to a lower power consumption zone if the region is not referenced for a predetermined period of time. 
     
     
       11. The virtual memory system of  claim 10 , wherein said performed method further includes allocating user data wherein fewer regions are referenced, and more regions are not referenced for said predetermined period of time, and are reduced to the lowest power consumption zone. 
     
     
       12. The virtual memory system of  claim 10 , wherein one memory region has a plurality of sets of power consumption zones of ranked diminishing power consumption levels. 
     
     
       13. The virtual memory system of  claim 12  wherein one of said plurality of sets of zones in said one memory region is phase-change memory (PCM) with higher power consumption, and said performed method dynamically reducing step includes minimizing referencing of said PCM. 
     
     
       14. The virtual memory system of  claim 11  wherein a plurality of memory regions are linked to a region of mirrored memory for enhanced reliability, and said performed method further includes referencing regions with links to mirrored memory to maintain said enhanced reliability. 
     
     
       15. The virtual memory system of  claim 9 , further including a plurality of memory banks, each bank including a plurality of said independently powered memory regions, wherein entire memory banks have all of their regions reduced to the lowest operable ranked power consumption zone for each region. 
     
     
       16. The virtual memory system of  claim 10 , wherein said performed method further includes providing a zonelist, to be used in referencing regions, built as sequences of zones of the same power consumption level from each of said plurality of regions. 
     
     
       17. A computer usable non-transitory storage medium having stored thereon a computer readable program for reducing virtual memory power consumption in a virtual memory system wherein physical memory is provided by a plurality of different physical memory devices, wherein the computer readable program when executed on a computer causes the computer to: store in the virtual memory kernel, topology data for each of said different memory devices including:
 a memory bank data structure for each of said different devices including a plurality of independently powered memory regions, each memory region having at least one set of ranked power consuming zones ranked according to diminishing power consumption levels; and 
 dynamically reduce the power consumption levels in said regions, under kernel control, to the lowest operable ranked power consumption zone for each region. 
 
     
     
       18. The computer usable storage medium of  claim 17 , wherein said computer program when executed on a computer further causes the computer to dynamically reduce by reducing a region to a lower power consumption zone if the region is not referenced for a predetermined period of time. 
     
     
       19. The computer usable storage medium of  claim 18 , wherein the computer program when executed on a computer further causes the computer to allocate user data wherein fewer regions are referenced, and more regions are not referenced for said predetermined period of time, and are reduced to the lowest power consumption zone. 
     
     
       20. The computer usable storage medium of  claim 19 , wherein one memory region has a plurality of sets of power consumption zones of diminishing power consumption levels. 
     
     
       21. The computer usable storage medium of  claim 20  wherein one of said plurality of sets of zones in said one memory region is phase-change memory (PCM) with higher power consumption, and
 said computer program when executed on a compute causes the computer to dynamically reduce by minimizing referencing of said PCM. 
 
     
     
       22. The computer usable storage medium of  claim 19  wherein:
 a plurality of memory regions are linked to region of mirrored memory for enhanced reliability, and 
 said computer program when executed on a computer further references regions with links to mirrored memory to maintain said enhanced reliability. 
 
     
     
       23. The computer usable storage medium of  claim 17 , wherein said memory includes a plurality of memory banks, with each bank including a plurality of said independently powered memory regions, wherein entire memory banks have all of their regions reduced to the lowest operable ranked power consumption zone for each region. 
     
     
       24. The computer usable storage medium of  claim 18 , wherein the computer program when executed on a computer further causes the computer to further provide a zonelist, to be used in referencing regions, built as sequences of zones of the same power consumption level from each of said plurality of regions.